Live, minus live action
Could somebody please tell me how the heck the Golf Channel
stays in business?
Last week was Masters week on the Golf Channel. The week when
this 24/7 golf network broadcasts its
”
Live From the Masters
”
show. The only problem is they didn’t show anything at all
– at least not any live action. Apparently, only CBS and ESPN
have the rights to do that.
In other words, the Golf Channel was able to pull off more than
a week’s worth of coverage without ever actually showing the
viewers a single
”
live
”
action shot of the event.
Live, minus live action
Could somebody please tell me how the heck the Golf Channel stays in business?
Last week was Masters week on the Golf Channel. The week when this 24/7 golf network broadcasts its “Live From the Masters” show. The only problem is they didn’t show anything at all – at least not any live action. Apparently, only CBS and ESPN have the rights to do that.
In other words, the Golf Channel was able to pull off more than a week’s worth of coverage without ever actually showing the viewers a single “live” action shot of the event.
No long birdie putts, no booming drives, bunker saves, nothing! The only thing any crazed golf fan was able to see was old footage from previous years/days, graphics with holes and scorecards and three anchors shooting the breeze about everything from Tiger Woods, to the speed of the greens, the length of the course, etc, etc.
And viewers not only continued to watch with enthusiasm, they even called in with questions and to answer trivia games during a segment that pitted average Joes against former Tour player Brandel Chamblee. I have to admit even I stuck it out and watched some of this lunacy myself, but I did so with this column in mind.
And, with each passing minute the opportunity to win a Pulitzer intensified. And if not good material for an award-winning sports column, this was certainly good enough for stand-up comedy.
Could you imagine watching a “Live From the Super Bowl” telecast – while the game was actually going on – that didn’t show a single pass, run, hit or tackle live? I can’t either. But somehow the Golf Channel has been able to pull this scintillating sports coverage off for more than a decade. The only thing live is that the telecast comes on as the tournament is going on – and that’s about as close to the action as these telecasts ever get.
When you think about it, it’s almost fraud. Yet somehow, without showing a single live action shot, the sales department at the Golf Channel was able to pull off selling enough advertising space to fill up nearly 20 hours worth of coverage. Harry Houdini couldn’t pull off a magic trick like this.
I guess the business plan is geared towards those people who didn’t have a computer and wanted to be constantly updated on the goings on at Augusta. That’s all I can figure because any three or four guys can sit on a bar stool and talk about the Masters, any other tournament or any other sports event, day and night. It happens all the time.
To be able to pull this off without ever actually showing the viewer anything more than a few scorecards, animated drawings of the course and interviews with Gary Player’s wife as well as those with a few roving reporters, is truly more amazing than any shot I saw this week on either ESPN or CBS.
